How to Integrate a Class? Activity Examples for Different Ages - Practical Tips from an Educator
An integrated classroom is a space where diversity becomes the driving force for collective growth. In today's world, where cultural, social, and personal differences are increasingly visible, the ability to create unity among students is incredibly valuable. In this article, we delve into practical tips to help teachers effectively integrate their classes, regardless of student age.
How to Integrate a Class?
Integrating a class is no small feat; sometimes it can take a day, and in other cases, even an entire semester. It's important to remember that we are responsible for individual students who begin shaping their character and full personality from the first days of school.
GET OUT OF THE DESKS, SIT ON THE FLOOR
The first step in the integration process is to create a space that encourages open communication and direct eye contact between students. Instead of traditional seating in desks, encourage children to sit in a circle. This arrangement allows each student to see the faces of their peers instead of their backs. It's a simple way to create an atmosphere of equality and closeness in the classroom from the start.
Sitting students in a circle has many advantages. Primarily, it enables direct eye contact between them, which can lead to better communication and understanding. Additionally, this spatial configuration encourages interaction among students and can help break down hierarchical structures in the classroom.
Another positive aspect is that students see each other as partners, not competitors. This fosters bonding, empathy, and cooperation. Children may feel more comfortable expressing their opinions and participating in discussions.
This is just a small first step, but it can have a significant impact on the classroom atmosphere. In such a space, students can feel more integrated and encouraged to collaborate and develop together.
💡 TIP: If part of your integration games includes tasks in smaller groups, avoid dividing children by having a few select others to divide the rest. This can significantly affect children who were chosen last or not at all. Besides, students will choose their closest friends this way, which negatively affects integration with the rest of the group.
Instead, use methods like counting off, from 1 to 2, 3, or 4, depending on the number of people in the class. If you're working with the youngest group who can't count yet, you can prepare lots, like cut-out flowers, clouds, suns, etc., and ask your kids to draw one. Children, while looking for their group, start to get to know each other and build relationships. Remember to mix groups from time to time so that the whole class has the opportunity to work together. Observe who worked with whom in specific tasks and change the group layout as needed.
❗IMPORTANT: Children show various traits from an early age, such as being a leader, an idea generator, or a team player. Your task is to observe the group and monitor which child exhibits these traits. If you notice that one group has two children with leadership qualities and another has none, try to subtly divide the group to avoid a clash between two leaders.
What Activities Integrate a Class?
Tasks in smaller groups allow selected individuals to get to know each other better. At the very beginning of integration activities, it's worth working with the whole group. Below are some practical tasks that greatly influence the integration of the entire class team.
🎲“LINE UPS”
The “Line Ups” exercise gives you a huge field of creativity. It involves arranging people in various orders. The order could be:
• Height (though this could be a source of conflict for small children, so I would be particularly cautious with this point),
• Distance from home to school
• Eye shade, from lightest to darkest (a very interesting option, because nothing integrates like looking each other in the eyes ☺️)
• Hair length
… and many other interesting options that automatically come to mind when observing your group.
🎲“REPEAT MY NAME”
This exercise, although somewhat time-consuming, is excellent for getting to know each other and strengthening relationships.
Have your group sit in a circle and ask them to say their names in turn. Once all the children have said their names, ask them to sequentially say their name and the name of the person next to them. The task may seem difficult, but based on my own experience, even the youngest kids can accomplish it.
RULES
It’s also worth creating class rules with the whole group. It's important that the rules are creative, colorful, and above all, interesting for the entire group. You don't have to call the document you create “rules.” You can use a name invented by the whole group.
Example rules could include:
• We don't interrupt each other
• We respect each other
• We support each other
• We respect our opinions
These are just a few suggestions, but the most important thing is that your students come up with the rules that will prevail in the class. Having rules and adhering to them positively affects the child's further development. It shapes a relaxed approach to norms and requirements in later life.
💡 TIP: Remember that the rules should largely contain points that do not start with the word “NO.” Instead of “You can't speak without raising your hand,” write “We raise our hand when we want to say something.” At first glance, it's more gentle and accessible for young people.
🤔REMEMBER: At the first parent meeting, discuss the rules created by their children. It's important for parents to know the rules in the class and discuss them with their children. Showing the points prepared by your students will illustrate to parents the psychosocial development stage their younger children are at.
How to Build a Cohesive Class?
Work, consistency, and a lot of patience. It's important to repeat integration activities cyclically. It's not about preparing a single workshop, but the consistency in action and visibility of the effects of our work. If you see that, despite integration activities, there are conflicts or group divisions in the class, react immediately. Observing the whole group and adjusting actions to build a cohesive team is the key to success. If you see that the class has turned against one person, you must intervene immediately. Remember that the first years of school education are crucial in a young person's later life. If a child was bullied or disliked by school peers in the early years, it can have a significant impact on their relationships in the future. The same applies to children who bullied, laughed at, or rejected others without consequence.
Building a cohesive class also involves discussing current situations and problems.
🌐COMMUNITY: In resocialization pedagogy, community classes are often held. At the end of the week, key situations from the whole week are discussed in the group forum. The students have a moment to share their opinion about the week, have a chance to resolve conflicts, or boast about their or someone else's success from the past week. Your task during community classes is to monitor reactions, moderate discussions, and prevent any conflict escalation. Before introducing community classes, remember to discuss them with parents and ask for consent to conduct them. Present the caregivers with the goal, effects, and course of such classes.
🤔REMEMBER: Being a good educator is key to raising young people. It's worth emphasizing that, especially at the early school education stage, YOU spend the most time with each of your students during the day. Therefore, it's important to observe your charges, adapt needs, requirements, and material to the individual. A teacher cannot be biased. From experience, I know that working with, for example, a “stubborn child” is very difficult. However, you can never let sympathy or antipathy guide you towards a student.
💡 TIP: As mentioned, you spend most of the day with parents' children, who entrust you with their care. Therefore, ongoing contact and feedback regarding the child's learning progress and development are particularly important. If you notice alarm situations, inform the legal guardian immediately.
How to Integrate the Class Team?
As I mentioned, the most important thing in integration is cyclicality and regularity. It’s up to you how often such classes will appear in your class. If you see that your class is cohesive and there are no conflicts, you can conduct such classes less frequently. Remember, when even the smallest conflict dividing the class team arises, integration activities must take place as soon as possible.
How to Best Resolve Conflicts in a Group?
A conflict has arisen in your group. What now? Prepare thematic workshops about the conflict. Talk to students about emotions by conducting a debate or brainstorming session. Ask your students to talk about the emotions that appear in their daily lives. If you work with an older group that can write, appoint one person (preferably someone who volunteers) to write emotions on the board. If your group cannot write yet, prepare “faces” from paper and ask one person to hang them on the board.
Before the classes, prepare a teaching outline that includes learning objectives. At the end of the workshop, based on the objectives you set, you can draw conclusions with your students and summarize all the work. Outlines are also important for showing parents the work you put into raising their children.
Exercises Helpful in Conflict
🎲“What Makes Me Angry?”
The “What Makes Me Angry” exercise aims to give your students a voice and the opportunity to talk about themselves. During this exercise, actively collaborate with the students, ask questions. Remember not to pressure in this task. If a child doesn't want to speak, allow them not to. No task should become mandatory, and it's worth remembering that some open up more slowly.
🎲“How Do You Handle Anger?”
This exercise is somewhat a continuation of the previous one. Here again, there is an element of brainstorming. It also gives you a chance to understand the level of aggression among your students. If answers like “I clench my hands, teeth, cry, lose control, scream” appear, it's time to closely observe the individuals who show such reactions.
Your task in this exercise is to explain that anger is an emotion like any other, and you can live with it without negative reactions. Emphasize that it's important to talk about what made us angry, share frustrating topics in real-time, and resolve emerging conflicts.
🎲“EMOTIONS - CHARADES”
Prepare lots such as: joy, surprise, pride, calm, curiosity, admiration, reflection, acceptance, trust, vigilance, anger, and sadness. The rest of the game follows the classic charades methods. One person shows the emotion they drew, while the rest guess the answer.
Note that: this list mostly includes positive emotions. In this task, as well as the entire workshop, it's about showcasing mostly positive emotions. If the whole game focused on negative emotions and showing them, it could result in reinforcing the perception that negative emotions are just play. Therefore, it's worth reversing this order and leaving good memories with positive emotions.
🎲“I Am, I Feel, I Will”
At the end of the emotions workshop, it's worth doing one more exercise. To summarize the classes and check if the educational goals have been met, conduct a talk with your students.
After today's lesson:
I am…
I feel…
I will…
Your students will share their feelings, comments, and future plans regarding emotions and daily life experiences. You will get to know them even better to monitor their development and educational progress in the future.
What Are Thematic Games?
Nothing brings people together like good fun and feelings associated with celebrating important days of the year. Days like spring day, autumn day, winter day, or Mother's Day, Father's Day, Children's Day don't need any introduction. But besides such classic, well-known days, there are many interesting options like:
• World Beard Day
• Charity Day
• World Talent Acquisition Day
• Good News Day
• Dreamer's Day
These are just a small part of the proposals, which are plentiful throughout the year. Based on these holidays or days, you can prepare really interesting and creative workshops that will integrate and strengthen the group, bringing many good memories.
In summary, the process of integration in a class is an important step in building a harmonious and conducive learning atmosphere. Starting with simple activities, like seating students in a circle, can lay a solid foundation for cooperation and mutual understanding. Integration not only promotes students' well-being but also positively affects their academic performance and social development.
By giving children the opportunity for direct eye contact and open communication, we create a space conducive to joint discovery, idea exchange, and developing social skills. It's an investment in their future because communication and collaboration skills will be key in adult life.
🤔REMEMBER: integration is a continuous process that requires the involvement of both you and the students. Adopting an open attitude, supporting diversity, and promoting joint activities are key elements in building an integrated class. Through such efforts, we can create a space where every child feels valued and accepted, which in turn translates into a positive atmosphere and effective learning.
Read also:
- School Kit: What Should Be in Your Child's Backpack?
- Can You Teach Yourself Spanish?
- How to Encourage Children and Teens to Read
